A Court of Redemption and Flora
by mafllp95
Summary: Through madness shines reason. Lucien though many centuries old is but a child when it comes to being someone's mate. Over time Elain will teach him. Teach him through the poems they shared as letters, guide him in the knowing eyes, and along the way, a small fox may very well be the ribbon that ties the mates together once and for all.
1. Chapter 1

**A Court of Redemption and Flora:**

 _Through madness shines reason_

A home amongst the those of Night Court was something Lucian would have once thought a nightmare. He had once imagined a place of inky shadows and snarling beast. However, Valeris was something of a wonderland.

With its colorful streets and marvelous building and markets. Lucian felt the air even seemed lighter, easier. Though he at times craved the familiarity of the Spring Court that had sheltered him for decades, he felt more at peace in the land of twilight.

There was a figure seated contently at the center of the vast garden. Her adept feet had gracefully weaved through the silken petals, and their violet tipped faces seemed to incline into her presence. Elain pillowed her head atop her knees and slowly brushed her fingertips lazily, almost sensually over their faces.

Home, she was home to Lucian. Even if she could not stomach the sight of him. Even when his chest caved in at the anguish, her eyes still held.

Elain was his mate and with that the other half of his soul, so he would be patient. Be everything that she needed him to be. A friend, a silent guardian, or maybe even a warm breeze in the night.

As if sensing him, the high Fae female inclined her head upwards, but there was no one on the balcony.

There was a quiet rustle of leaves, and Elain found a small vixen with blood orange fur with dark chocolate colored feet and muzzle.

"Hello, little one" She called, and the fox paused from playing with the snow, her ears flattened against her head. Elain stayed her hand. She would not force the creature to trust her. Such a thing would be contradictory. So, she sat and settled back into the flowers. They circled her in the chill of an embrace. She sighed, trying to will away the ache that pooled between the thin arches of her eyebrows.

The next day Elain brought the small vixen a tribute of smoked salmon. Instead of scuttling backward, the fox simply cocked her head to the side curiously. Elain smiled and quietly placed the offering at the lip of the garden. A lettuce leaf garnished the salmon. The female backed away slowly until she disappeared behind the mahogany door. She scurried to the nearest window to peer through to the garden. She squealed contently as the fox ate savagely at the offering.

Feyre, who had been lounging on the couch, peaked her eyes above her book.

"What has you so giddy?" Feyre asked her sister, a bemused grin sliding lazily across her lips. Elain turned slightly her cheeks flushed from the cold, and her dark brown eyes glinted.

"I think she is starting to trust me!" She exclaimed as giddy as a child. Curiosity made Feyre stand and stride towards her sister's side.

She made out the image of a reddish creature licking contently at the salmon juice that had coated her paw. The High Lady of the Night Court could not help but think of her old friend. The mask he had borne for forty-nine years.

"I think her name is Hydra" Elain announced.

"What makes you say that?" Feyre asked and observed that faraway look that cloaked her sister. It had grown easier to know Elain as High Fae, she often spoke in riddles and seemed confused when intermixed in multiple conversations. However, mad she appeared, Elain was content.

"Hydrangeas cradle her at night. She finds comfort in them and will one day do the same with me." Elain sighed and watched her fox bound into the snow. "The light of day is growing patient, and though his flames frighten me, I find myself seeking his warmth." She placed a hand gently on Feyre's shoulder in farewell.

"Maybe his light will shine upon Hydra one day. I feel she will be more soothed by him" She Prophesized before disappearing up the stairs.

Feyre placed a scrap of leather in her book to mark her place before leaving towards the door. She plucked up her cloak and hurriedly trailed down the twirling steps. _I'm going to visit Lucien, my love. I won't be long._

Rhys' response was a caress in her mind. _You seem determined._ He chuckled _Send him my regards_

Lucien had moved to an apartment that overlooked the Rainbow artists quarter. It was a quaint apartment with a glass ceiling that captured the image of snowfall. His weapons lay strewed about and at a corner desk was a disastrous array of books. He was sharpening his sword when there was a light knock on the door.

Lucien sniffed curiously; he recognized the scent of his friend. Though they were not on the best of terms after the Christmas debacle. He walked to the door and leaned on the doorframe.

"Well, to what do I owe the honor, High Lady" He hissed the title. Feyre narrowed her eyes at him. He sighed and stepped aside, an invitation inside.

"Did you gift my sister a fox?" She asked and observed his relaxed soldiers.

"I don't take Nesta to be one to care for the precious and wild" He chuckled humorlessly. Feyre glared. He knew very well to which sister she meant. He sighed.

"The vixen was being hunted down after her mother had been shot dead, barely more than a Kit, she sought shelter in my riding satchel. I could not very well leave her there so defenseless. There was no sport in that. When her wide eyes looked at me, so wide and full of fear." He paused. "They have the same eyes, so I released her in the garden."

His eyes questioned Feyre.

"She loves her. She is determined to earn the fox's trust no matter how long it takes." Feyre said and let the words echo in the air. How like Elain was Lucien willing to be?

Lucien swallowed and turned to look at the desk that had appeared to have exploded with leaflets. Feyre understood. He was trying. So much so She had to commend him.

"It was a lovely gift. I just wanted to let you know" She said before nodding to him and exiting the apartment.

Lucien allowed himself a small smile before shuffling to the desk. He pulled out a quill and a fresh sheet of parchment and began to write.


	2. Chapter 2

_A made creature, too pure for any world, lay amongst the roses; putting them to shame in her effervescent beauty. However, beauty is not her only haunting truth. What truth does this creature see in the world?_

A scrap of parchment lay open faced on Elain's table by her window. She loosed a breath and stared down to the garden, the snow was beginning to melt and she noticed the flash of red across white. The Vixen was content to chase merrily after a Mockingbird, the cobalt of the feathers winking in the light. A small smile spread across her lips and Elain turned away from the window and down the linoleum steps.

She stepped out to the garden and let her light steps crunch on the snow. The little fox cocked her head at the sound and sniffed the air.

Elain placed the salmon a few steps away from a bench she liked to sit by and organize her suitcase of seeds. There was much more than just flowers, there were herbs and vegetables. Elain often thought of maybe opening her own nursery here in Valaris. Something _hers._ Not being so reliant on either of her sisters, though she loved them dearly, she wished to be self-reliant, strong.

With the cauldron nullified, the maddening images had ceased. However, she still saw the images of peoples lives, the ones closest to her. It was why she wished to be alone so often, she felt slick with oily guilt as she unwillingly looked into their memories.

Elain brought her legs close to her chest, resting her chin on the burgundy pants. The little vixen had finished her meal and had begun to inch closer to the High Fae female. She sniffed at the bench Elain sat on, curious but still hesitant.

"Do you think I could make it, little one?" Elain whispered. The vixen sat pack and stared, giving off the appearance of understanding.

"You do know you have the option to live anywhere in the city" A deep voice rumbled behind her. The fox scuttled away into the hydrangeas for cover from the looming presence of the High Lord of the Night Court. The female cocked her head towards him.

She could feel her eyes clouding over with the memory of flying through the frigid air. A pair of powerful fantom wings tugging between her shoulders and a pair of grinning, ebony haired beauties flanked at either side.

"My mother and sister, Aneia" Rhys whispered in answer to Elain's sigh. It took several blinks to clear the clouds from her eyes. Her cheeks redded. She knew of the horrible fate Rhys' mother and sister met by Tamlin and his family. She swallowed against the shame and guilt as her mind betrayed her against the power she had not yet mastered.

"I'm sorry" She said while hugging her legs closer. Rhysand sat silently beside her on the bench.

"I meant what I said before. You have the choice to go" He reminded. Elain chewed at her lip thoughtfully.

"My sister's don't think me well enough," She said quietly and looked towards the elegant male that was her youngest sister's mate. He had provided his home as a shelter for her for those many months. A twinkle of knowing glinted in Elain's eyes and she smiled sweetly at the male.

"As a year and a half passed, I will now take my leave so that another may take my place and be cared for" She prophesized. Rhys gazed at Elain with shock.

"You are sure?" He asked, trying to keep the eagerness from his voice. Elain tapped her nose and nodded. She then giggled.

"You are so drunk on her scent and taking in all of it you haven't noticed the faint twinge of sage to it." She teased. Rhys gave an unapologetic grin to his sister-in-law and crushed her in an embrace. Elain pat him in congratulatory fashion and looked off as the High Lord flew into the evening light to find his mate.

 _Mate._ Elain blinked slowly at the word before standing and tending to the winter vegetables. It was midnight when Elain had made her way down the cobblestone streets. A little red fox happily prancing behind her, Not yet ready to allow Elain close enough to touch but the trust as forming.

The High Fae female looked up at the apartment that lay nestled in the burrows near the barracks. She passed a thumb over the folded parchment and took in a breath. One for courage. Before she strolled to the golden face of the letter drop of the door.

 _A child lay nestled in the dark, only not a child but a creature with the heart of one. It takes its steps tentatively but determined. It would not be cared for any longer. Self-worth is the most valuable treasure. What treasure do you hold dear?_

Lucian tried to breathe against the tightness in his chest. The note was perhaps a token of accepting his existence. He allowed a small smile to dance across his lips in the firelight. He gave the note a final glance before adjusting his longsword in his Illyrian fighting leathers. He was a warrior first and foremost and found a sense of duty as a sentry of the Night Court, it was maybe luck that a position emerged around the school that Feyre had created. Luck or maybe a gift from his most prickly friend.


	3. Chapter 3

_To my lovely stranger,_

 _No one has ever asked me for what I treasure, only for what I gained to lose? To be honest, I treasure my mother. Her lovely face is a distant memory in my mind. She would read me stories when I was young. My room was tucked away, far away from those of my brothers' and father.'s. It was such an innocent time, and she would tell me that she never wished me to be a prince in the Autumn Court. She wanted me to live a pure and noble life that would be full of happiness and love. Though, the love she described is a far cry from what I have._

 _When was the last time you felt so innocently happy?_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Lucian_

Elain chewed at her lip as she again read the letter before the fireplace. Hydra had begun to follow her mistress inside the home if only to seek shelter from the cold at first. However, in time, moreover a few hours, Hydra has found comfort in Elain's lap.

Now the High Fae female was passing her hand in gentle strokes over the satin fur of the little vixen. She sat pondering the question.

When people thought of Elain, they would say she is beautiful and delicate. Nevermind the fact that she had driven a blade into the neck of the King of Hybern during the war. Elain's family had tried to protect the wide-eyed beauty and cultivate the _innocence_ she once held.

It made her feel nauseous. She loved them dearly, but she was not a doll to be encased in a glass managery to be watched as she tended to her garden.

"I won't be a doll" Elain announced to the vixen in their couch of the new home. She had gone shopping for homes with Feyre and Mor earlier that week. They had settled on a cottage by the harbor of Valaris. It lay on two acres of land, the earth rich from the salt mist. Elain had taken in the rundown brick home with wild and unkempt weeds and grinned at the challenge.

"This is perfect" She had said then. For days on end, she would work diligently to tend the land and plant the seeds that Azriel had given her as a housewarming present.

The Shadow singer had become a trusted confidant to the female. A calming whisper against the sea. They had sat on the roof of her home that first night back to back and sipping on rich wine. Speaking little, safe for when they talked of the complications of past loves.

Azriel was training himself not to love Mor with every molecule in his body. Something that was a part of him for five hundred years, but Mor had found her lover in the winter court. It's emissary and raven-haired beauty, Deena.

"I suspected that she would be mated to someone else but never a female. All those years of my pining for her and yet I could not shake the feeling though it seemed we were perfect for one another, we didn't fit" Azriel had said in his deep rasping voice. Elain felt his strong wings flare slightly. "She must have been so uncomfortable under the weight of my gaze for so many years."

Elain thought of the golden-haired beauty that was her High Lord and Lady's third. Her throat bobbed as she felt the years of longing and sorrow lick at her mind. Azriel's shadows cocooned them in the night. She didn't fight the vicarious tears that slid down her face. Elain would absorb the pain from her friend, and she would endure it for him, for he had suffered too much. Azriel could smell the salt that trailed her cheeks and stiffened. He felt her shook her head.

"She is here. Your mate waits for you in this city." Elain chuckled while she choked on a sob. "You have not seen her because your shadows have covered our eyes, singing you to sleep with dreams of the one you can not hold."

Azriel decoded her words. _Here. his mate was here._ He tilted his head back, and it connected lightly with Elain's. He gave a breath. Why couldn't his mate have been Elain? It would have been so easy, like breathing with her. The Mother would not give in to what is easy, however, and besides, he could only feel a kinship with her. Nevermind she was a mated female, there was this familial feel them. Elain looked up to him like a little girl idolizes their elder brother. It was a similar friendship to that of Feyre and Lucian. _Lucian._

"What of you and your mate?" Azriel asked as if sensing his name on her mind. Elain sank back into his warmth between his wings and hugged her legs to herself.

"We are strangers." She breathed, quoting from the poems Lucian had sent her. Elain looked down and the tile of the ceiling as if she could see through them to the side table by the fireplace. She had kept every single one of them.

"But there is a tug, and I feel him here in the city. In his home in the barracks and it's like a beacon. I always stop myself from going to him though." She admitted. The wind and shadows seemed to ask, _Why?_

"Because I am tired of living like a doll. I need to become strong before I become his" Elain explained.

…

Lucian limped to his home, panting as he eased inside. A warm bath had him nearly purring, and when he was done, he walked into the foyer of the house and letter that lay on the smokey colored hardwood. He recognized the sloping handwriting and more over the scent. Of dew and jasmine.

Lucian carefully opened the paper and eased into his favorite overstuffed chair by the fireplace.

 _To my kind stranger,_

 _Innocense is a luxury that I was never truly blessed to hold. I knew the role I had to play when we were poor and starving. I had to be the light and the soft-spoken so to sooth the unease of my family. When we came to riches, my mind was clouded by Tamlin's spell, but I had to remain smiling for my father and Nesta how had grown so grave at Feyre's disappearance. When I thought my human lover saw me I was wrong. I knew it too. He saw a wife to tend to all matters and to make the world pretty for him in the time of war. I think the mask I wear is slowly cracking a disintegrating. Feyre once told me you wore a mask for forty-nine years. A fox mask, like Hydra. She is the most cunning little vixen and my light in the dark._

 _Do you still wear a mask, Lucian?_

 _Elain_


	4. Chapter 4

_Dear Lady Fox,_

 _That is what the children call you over in the artist quarter. Feyre's students coo about Hydra incessantly. I do believe I have spied a few cartoonish images modeled after yourself. Will I see you at the celebration for the High Lord and Lady's child? It would be nearly a year since we had been in the same room. Does it still pain you? You needn't be wary of me. I have made my peace in waiting; however many centuries may pass. I will wait because you Elain Archeron are worth the wait._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Lucian_

Lucian swirled his wine in his crystal goblet. He merely stared at the maroon liquid as the festivities continued. The prince of the night court was born, and it was as if the sky had glinted a new star. Feyre and Rhysand were beaming, and the further's wings draped over them in the cocoon of love and family.

The young prince, Kias was the dark vision of his father. Glinting violet eyes and all. Feyre had confessed to Lucian that she had seen an image of her son in the face of the bone carver. It was why she was so sure she would have a son. Even at the many protests and predictions of the inner circle that the child would undoubtedly be a girl.

"Next time," Elain said answering Lucian's silent debate as she quietly sat beside the golden-eyed male and the High Lady's second. It had come as no surprise to Rhysand that his mate would seek the wise counsel of the Fey male as her second. Her third was the beautiful lesser Fey female that had bravely defended her shop in the artist's quarter. She was a brilliant female and a valuable emissary not just in Valaris, but across nations. A trait no doubt that was gained from nearly a millennia of trade and survival.

Back on the couch, Lucian stiffened. Elain had not dared sit so close to him before let alone initiate conversation. She did not shrink from his light gaze. She only gave a wane smile. Lucian eyed her carefully.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Elain took a sip from her crystal goblet and tapped at her temple.

"It won't be for another twenty or so years, but Rhys will be beside himself at the little princess," Elain said and gazed off towards the nearby window, a slight glaze over those chocolate eyes as if she were watching the projecting future of the next generation of the night court. A smile pulled at the corner of her mouth.

"A daughter is a beautiful thing," Lucian said before taking a drink. Elain stared at him almost unnervingly with her deep brown eyes.

"Is it so strange for males to want for daughters?" He asked an unconsciously imagined a young girl with flowers in her Archeron bronze hair and smiling at him with light shining in her russet eyes. Elain swallowed another mouthful of wine. She had become better at masking the surprise of her visions and the intimacy they sometimes held. She hadn't realized though that she had the power to project those visions.

Elain made a mental note to talk to Rhys about lessons in mental shielding. Still, her heart gave a squeeze at the image of the young girl. Of her daughter, Thier daughter. There were times when she wished she could skip to the happy ending. Happily mated and married with a family and a purpose. However, neither were ready yet, both still finding their use in the world. She played with the gold circulate around her middle finger of her right hand. A triplet to the ones her sisters wore, with a delicate, tiny diamond arrowhead at the center.

"Mortal men typically dream of sons, so to pass on their legacy" Elain explained before flicking her gaze back up to Lucian. He nodded.

"Mortal men have so little time on the world," He said. "So little, that they sentence their sons to not only carry their legacy but to live out their dreams so that they may live vicariously through them." He drained his glass and placed it on the side table.

"High Fey males are worse at times, most wanting to have hordes of sons to command armies and take heirs to thrones. Lesser Fey males are blessed with ambiguity and the joy of family. Don't get me wrong any child I have I will cherish, but a daughter I feel is a confidant for life." He said.

"How so?" Elain asked. Lucian crossed an ankle over a knee.

"A daughter is more likely to stay close to home, to family and traditionally a father's emissary" Elain tilted her head curiously as she had never heard such praise for daughters. Her father loved his daughters but had not known what to make of them for much of their childhood. When they came to riches once more thanks to Tamlin, Elain had taken the role of lady of the house effortlessly. She could vaguely remember the look of relief on her father's face as she handled the affairs of the home.

"There so much more to her though," Elain said before she too drained her glass and dared to lean over Lucian to place her goblet next to his, all the while knowing that he would be able to take in an intoxicating amount of her scent. She fought the urge to swallow nervously at the feel of the warmth emanating from his body and sat back to her spot on the other side of the couch.

Lucian was also fighting the primal urge that roared within him at the intensity of her scent. The beast in him wanted to lay her down on that couch and explore that curves and divets of her body, to hell with the rest of the people in the room. Even still he steadied the heavy thrumming in his ears.

"She will, and I hope to witness as much as I can" Lucian clarified after he cleared his throat. They shared a look that could only be described as a mated look. One where they take a tentative step into the soul of the other. They had become magnets slowly leaning towards one another when Feyre floated down between them, baby Kias in her arms.

"Kias wanted to play with his anti-social aunt and uncle," Feyre said with a smile. Her eyes were positively glowing with happiness. Elain cooed at the rosy face of her little nephew.

"But Nesta and Azeriel are in the kitchen" Lucian quipped, and Feyre elbowed him in the side.

"He could be Rhys's clone" Lucian commented with a chuckle. Feyre nodded and leaned into her sister's warmth. Elain passed a slender finger down the side of the baby's face.

"He's painter like you, Feyre" Elian prophesized as Kias squeezed her finger. The images of a violet-eyed toddler laughing and splashing in an array of colors. Elain tilted her head to her sister to share the vision.

The festivities continued until the first rays of pale dawn reached the horizon. The night court and sung and drank and laughed themselves hoarse. Elain and Lucan tended to drift more towards one another throughout the night, and when it came to the point that Elain could not stifle her yawns any longer, Lucian offered to walk her home.

He offered first to winnow her, but she insisted on walking. There was a sleepy sort of silence in Valaris. A few murmurs from a distance, probably from shopkeepers preparing for the day ahead.

Elain's arms were relaxed at her sides as the strode steadily along the riverstone path. Their footfalls crunched around them lightly.

"I hear that you have been making quite a name for yourself as a herbalist," Lucian said. Elain smiled lightly at the compliment. Her nursery had flourished in those nine months. She had built and cultivated her gardens and groves and then would seek council with Amren in Nesta in the Library to research and practice different healing spells and incorporate them with her plants.

"It's nice to have something that is so wholly mine to offer to the world." She breathed and extended out her arms to show the grand expanse of her land as it came into view. The sea breeze ruffled her thick bronze waves.

"Do you have something that is solely yours?" Elain asked squinting up at him and mentally tracing around the high cheekbones, towards that wicked scar. He was so beautiful; she thought scars and all.

Lucian fought back the urge to say _You are mine and I am yours._ He instead made a thoughtful noise.

"I've survived up to this point on charm and wit" He chuckled at first, but there was no real humor in it. He sighed.

"Up until the war I was trained as a warrior but never truly was one. I want to protect my loved ones and innocence but can I admit something to you?" He asked, and his voice was uncharacteristically soft. Elain nodded.

"I would love to educate." He admitted. "I only realized it when I started my guard patrol around the schools. The children are always so eager to see me and always have so many questions. It can change the course of my day completely when I see them." He slid a glance to Elain and smirked.

"They often ask about you, Lady Fox," He said and as if on cue Hydra came bounding towards them in a flash of crimson. Elain opened her arms expectantly, and the vixen leaped into the embrace and began to lick at the female's chin and the left side of her face. Elain laughed, and it was so pure and tinkling that Lucian's heart gave a small lurch. Hydra pressed her face lovingly against the side of her mistress's face, and Elain looked to Lucian with content but sleepy eyes.

"I think you would be a wonderful educator, Lucian." She told him. They had been hovering at her front step for a few minutes by that point. "Thank you for walking me home," She said and looked to the ground, and after a quick breath of courage, Elain stood on her tip toes and kissed Lucian's cheek.

He didn't dare move or even breathe because every cell in his body was telling him to cup her face in his hands and crash his lips against hers. Elain hesitated in front of him her breath catching. They stared into each other's eyes for several heartbeats before Elain gave him a small smile before nearly running into her home and shutting the door.

 _Dear sweet Lucian,_

 _I am sorry that I am hesitant. That though I try to grow surer, I am still so afraid. Not of you, of the intense emotion of the bond. You may have your work cut out for you with your first student. If I may be so bold to ask you to please teach me? Teach me to be fierce and sure and worthy of the wait._

 _-Elain_


End file.
